10 Days Vietnam and Cambodia Essence Tour

Welcome to Hanoi!

Upon arrival, our tour guide and driver will welcome you at the airport. You will be escorted to the hotel and check-in. The rest of the day is at your leisure for recovery.

Note: if your arrival time is early, and you prefer to explore the city instead of taking a nap, please kindly tell our travel consultant, and we’ll recommend one of our suggested activities like enjoying the Hanoi food tour by motorbike at night, or having a half-day cooking class, or walking around the Hanoi food street.

Accommodation: Overnight in Hanoi

Meals: NA

Enjoy your breakfast. In the morning at 8:00-8:30, you will be met by our tour guide at your hotel, and start to explore the city of Hanoi. The morning’s activities include:

1. Tran Quoc Pagoda: located on the shores of West Lake, this pagoda is full of amazing Buddhist symbolism, a must-see for any of Hanoi city tour.
2. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum: one of the most famous works in Vietnam. With great cultural and historical value, it will expand your understanding of the country.
3. One Pillar Pagoda: Hanoi’s iconic landmark is not to be missed, famous for its extraordinary architecture. This Pagoda is not only a famous tourist attraction but also a religious stop for local pilgrims.
4. Temple of Literature: one of the top historical attractions in Hanoi, is the first university in Vietnam. The temple represents Vietnamese ancient architecture and traditional fondness for learning.

End of the sightseeing, you will have lunch at an authentic Vietnamese restaurant, and then take a rest.

In the afternoon, you will enjoy the following activities:

1. Hoan Kiem Lake with Ngoc Son Temple: famous for its peaceful beauty, and cultural as well as historical values.
2. Take a traditional cyclo tour through the Old Quarter: the fascinating experience of rickshaws driving around the Old Quarter and experiencing the daily life of the locals.
3. Savor the best street food in the world: Never miss out the Vietnam food

After the tour, you will be escorted back to your hotel in Hanoi. The rest of the day is free at your leisure.

Accommodation: Overnight in Hanoi

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

In the morning, after breakfast, the cruise staff will pick you up at about 8:00 am, then head to the cruise port of Halong Bay. It takes about 3 hours to arrive. Upon arrival, the cruise staff will help you with the check-in at around 12:00 am.

Welcome onboard in Halong Bay! You will be greeted with a welcome drink and the introduction and guidelines. Then, you will enjoy the lunch onboard in the elegant dining room.

In the afternoon, you will enjoy some exciting activities such as sightseeing, kayaking, or swimming according to each cruise’s itinerary.

While onboard, you can take advantage of the leisure time of the Spa, Beauty, and Massage services surrounded by the stunning scenery around you. Besides, you can also join in the chef’s cooking class and learn the art of traditional Vietnamese cooking.

In the evening, an elegant dinner is ready with a fusion of Eastern and Western cuisine, accompanied by a wide selection of wines and beverages from around the world.

After dinner, enjoy a leisurely evening onboard, such as joining in board games, squid fishing, a night movie, or bars & karaoke.

Accommodation: Overnight at Halong Bay

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Your second day of Halong Bay Cruise will start with a Tai Chi class for 20 minutes to breathe the fresh air and brighten the day.

After breakfast, continue with the exploration of the tourist sites on Halong Bay. At around 10:00, it’s time to pack your luggage for checkout.

At about 11:30 am, your cruise boat will sail back to the port and you will enjoy an early lunch on the way. Then, the cruise staff will pick you up at the port, heading to the airport of Hanoi for your flight to Da Nang.

Upon arrival in Da Nang, our tour guide will escort you to Hoi An for about 1 hour. Welcome to Hoi An, one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites and famous for the old town. Your tour guide will take you to the hotel in Hoi An for Check-in. You can have the rest of the day to yourself.

Accommodation: Overnight in Hoi An

Meals: Breakfast

In the morning, after breakfast, you will start your half-day excursion to Cam Thanh village. Your tour guide will pick you up around 8:00 am to 8:30 am. Cam Thanh village is a fisherman at Cam Thanh Water coconut village. During this half-hour, you will experience:

1. Fishing, catching the crabs & coconut mussels: enjoying experiences from learning traditional fishing techniques and exploring tranquil coconut-palm flanked waterways of a past war.
2. Vietnamese bamboo basket boat ride: made of bamboo with the shape of baskets to make you have the very Vietnamese experience.

At the end of the first half of the day, the guide will take you to a very delicious Vietnamese lunch.

After a short rest, we are about to start the afternoon tour. Your tour guide will bring you to the edge of the old town for a half day of exploration. During the tour, you will visit:

1. 200-year-old Tan Ky House: a beautiful home that has been lovingly preserved over seven generations.
2. Museum of Trade Ceramics: with fascinating pottery artifacts from all over Asia and the Middle East
3. Chua Ong Pagoda: the neighborhood around it has distinctly Chinese-inspired buildings and is lovely to explore at a relaxed pace.
4. Hoi An Market: reputed to be one of Vietnam’s best.

After the sightseeing tour, we'll take you back to the hotel, and then you can have the rest of the day to yourself.

Accommodation: Overnight in Hoi An

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast, enjoy your time and wait for our tour guide to pick you up to the Da Nang airport, taking a flight to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), about 80 minutes. Upon arrival in Saigon, our tour guide will escort you to the hotel and have a rest.

Welcome to Saigon, the largest city, business, and financial hub of Vietnam! Its history dates back hundreds of years. Saigon is famous for its fascinating culture and ornate pagodas and temples.

Around 18:00-18:30, your tour guide will bring you to join in the dinner cruise on the Saigon River. After the tour, back to your hotel and have a good rest.

Accommodation: Overnight in Saigon

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, at about 8:30 am, we will drive about 1.5 hours to Cu Chi Tunnels, where you discover these amazing systems developed by the guerrillas fighting in the Vietnam War. You will see various weapons used in the war on display. It will take the whole morning to explore and enjoy.

After lunch at a local restaurant, back to Saigon city to explore the iconic highlights, including:

1. Notre Dame Cathedral: honored as one of the world's 19 most majestic cathedrals, the only representative from Southeast Asia, seen as the architectural symbol of Ho Chi Minh City
2. Old Saigon Post Office: Vietnam’s largest post office and oldest colonial structure, is one of the must-sees, attracting visitors with its aesthetic and historical values
3. Cholon: the largest Chinatown in Ho Chi Minh with many traditional shops, markets, and local food stalls.
4. Emperor Jade Pagoda: a sacred place of Saigon, built by a Chinese merchant named Liu Daoyuan, where people pray and seek blessings.

End of the sightseeing tour, you will be escorted to the hotel and enjoy free time for the rest of the day.

Accommodation: Overnight in Saigon

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

In the morning, after breakfast, you will enjoy your free time until your tour guide picks you up for your flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The flight takes around 70 minutes.

Welcome to Siem Reap! Upon arrival, our tour guide and driver will welcome you at the airport. You will be escorted to the hotel and check-in.

After enjoying the lunch, your guide will pick you up to start your Angkor Temple discovery. In the morning, you will visit:

1. Ta Prohm: one of the largest temples built during the Khmer empire, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the mother of Jayavarman VII.
2. Banteay Kdei: considered to be one of the main groups of temples in the Angkor complex with peaceful and quiet surroundings.
3. Angkor Wat: the 7^th wonder of the world, is a miniature replica of the universe in stone, its beauty and state of preservation is unrivaled.

After the tour, we prepare a Mudita Signature Treatment for you after touring the temples of Angkor Wat, rejuvenate with a spa session in Siem Reap. Using an herbal compress, your masseuse provides a massage treatment that is said to reduce tension and improve energy flow throughout the body.

After that, you will be escorted to your hotel, enjoy your free time, and have a good rest. 

Accommodation: Overnight in Siem Reap

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Today, after breakfast, your guide will pick you up at about 9:00 am, heading to the spot for the countryside jeep tour.

Hop aboard an open-air Jeep and explore the countryside around Siem Reap. Drive along dirt trails and country lanes, stop in remote rural villages, and admire views over the rice paddies. Along the way, learn about Cambodian life as you meet the locals, sample bamboo rice cakes, and watch demonstrations of traditional handicrafts such as basket weaving. 

The jeep tour is about 1.5 hours, then you will pay a visit to a Cambodian local family and see what their daily life is like. Then enjoy a local lunch with them.

In the afternoon, take a half-day excursion to the biggest Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake - Tonle Sap Lake. Firstly, tour Kompong Phluk, the largest village on the lake, to discover the fascinating daily lifestyle of the local people who live on the water.

Then, take a boat trip to enjoy the beautiful lake views and mangrove forests.

One of the highlights is to enjoy the beautiful sunset of Tonle Sap Lake, with a beer and a tranquil and serene atmosphere.

Then, back to the Siem Reap downtown, and you will be escorted to the night market and Pub Street, where you will have a nice evening to spend. After the tour, go back to your hotel for a good rest.

Accommodation: Overnight in Siem Reap

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Enjoy your breakfast and free time in the morning until your tour guide picks you up to the airport.

Tour service ends here.

Hope you enjoyed a great trip with us and we look forward to seeing you next time.

Note: If you’re planning to continue exploring the Indochina region, like Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos, please never hesitate to tell us, we’re tour experts for all of these destinations.

Accommodation: NA

Meals: Breakfast